In today’s overcrowded e-commerce landscape, businesses need to find unique and attention-grabbing ways of standing out from the competition. One great strategy for doing this is through custom packaging — particularly with custom boxes.
Custom boxes allow a business’ brand to travel throughout every step in the shipping and handling process, ensuring that customers are left with an unforgettable impression at each touchpoint. Take a look at this guide to customize boxes and packaging for e-commerce brands.
In the meantime, remember to get in touch with Print Bind Ship to order your custom product box!
What are Custom Packaging Boxes?
Custom packaging boxes are boxes or containers tailored specifically to a company’s branding and product needs. They are designed from scratch or modified versions of standard box styles, with customized graphics, shapes, sizes, and materials to create a unique look and elevate the product’s perceived value.
Unlike generic packaging, custom boxes allow businesses to make a strong brand statement, protect items more securely, and enhance the unboxing experience for customers.
Branded products and shipping boxes are essential for marketing-savvy companies. They serve as a way to solidify your brand and engage with consumer’s on a whole difference level. Using custom packaging boxes to boost your brand’s visibility and enhance the customer experience is a smart strategy.
Can You Customize Cardboard Boxes?
Yes, you certainly can! Cardboard packages and shipping boxes lend themselves extraordinarily well to customization.
Plus, they are available in a variety of different sizes and thicknesses. Whether you’re looking for a standard box or want to invent something original and unique, customized cardboard boxes are one of the easiest and least expensive ways for creating branded packaging.
Get in touch for a free quote on creating customized cardboard boxes
4 Types of Custom Packaging Boxes
Choosing which custom box solution is right for you deserves careful consideration. The main three components of customization to consider are:
- Printed boxes for your product
- Mailer boxes
- Shipping boxes
1. Custom Shipping Boxes
The custom box industry is booming. If you have any doubt about custom box popularity, consider the following: sales for customized shipping boxes are expected to top over 35 million in the coming years. If you ship products to consumers, you’re going to want to consider designing a custom shipping box, not just for the sake of branding but also to remain competitive in today’s saturated online marketplace.
Several factors determine the best custom shipping box for your company. If you sell a variety of products, consider if you’ll require multiple shipping box sizes. If you’re shipping fragile or perishable items, you’ll need to work with a designer to determine the thickness of the box and if any inserts or protective inner packaging are needed.
Finally, you’ll want to consider how to incorporate your brand in your custom shipping boxes. If the color scheme is a significant aspect of your brand, you might want colorful shipping boxes. For popularizing your logo or tagline, consider how to include them on a package with maximum exposure. When it comes to custom shipping box design, your choices are vast, so make sure you carefully consider a shipping box that best represents you.
2. Specialty Boxes
Have a unique product that requires a special design? Crafting a specialty box that showcases your product can be a major factor in how your customers experience your brand. A positive customer interaction translates into brand loyalty.
Here’s a great example of how a specialty box design can build customer satisfaction and engagement. In an effort to get healthy, a coffee drinker started replacing their frequent daily caffeinated coffee infusions with tea. In shopping for options, they happened upon Hanger Tea, which had a five-star rating and multiple positive reviews. Critics talked little about the flavor of the teas but went on and on about how much they loved the packaging. Of course, this coffee drinker was intrigued and ordered it. And guess what arrived? Tea bags on little cardboard hangers in a closet-shaped box. Now that’s great packaging!
By designing a specialty box for your products, you’re providing added value to your customers beyond the product inside. It tells customers you care about your products. This practice boosts recognition and loyalty to your brand and can create lots of online buzz.
3. Custom Mailer Boxes
Custom mailer boxes can include many design elements and brand signifiers. Typically made of corrugated cardboard, they also offer the added benefit of protecting your products during shipping. Sending products via mail is typically less expensive than other delivery methods, saving your customers shipping and handling charges.
These days, much of our mail includes flyers we don’t have the time or inclination to review. Providing your customers with an attractive, exciting package in their mailbox is a terrific way of standing out among the crowd while giving customers a little added boost when they pick up their mail. For example, the popular beauty subscription service Ipsy recently upgraded its custom mailer boxes to a bold pink, their brand color. When subscribers go to their mailbox, they have an instantly recognizable pink box that, undoubtedly, they open eagerly.
4. Custom Boxes for Small Businesses
For a small business, finding a way to stand out in the hectic eCommerce market can be challenging. Crafting a custom box solution is functional and provides a relatively inexpensive, consistent marketing tool that can set your business apart.
With Print Bind Ship you can design custom boxes for your small business according to your brand and what packaging suits your products best. Learn more here!
7 Benefits of Using Custom Packaging Boxes for Small Businesses
We’ve learned a lot about some of the marketing and packaging solutions that a custom box creation can offer your brand. Here are some other benefits to consider:
1. Brand Differentiation and Recognition
With thousands of products vying for attention, custom packaging boxes present a powerful branding opportunity. Every aspect, from the box shape and color palette to printed graphics and finishes, can be customized to reinforce your brand identity and story.
A unique, eye-catching design will make your products instantly recognizable on crowded shelves or in e-commerce shipping boxes. Consistent custom packaging boxes also help build your brand equity over time.
2. Boost Customer Experience
The unboxing experience has become a pivotal part of the customer journey, especially with the rise of unboxing videos and social media sharing.
Custom packaging elevates this experience through thoughtful design touches that surprise and delight custoemrs, like magnetic closures, ribbon pulls, interior graphics/messaging, and even inserts with added product details or promotional gifts. These premium touches can help create lasting positive associations with your brand.
3. Product Protection
Off-the-shelf packaging is rarely optimized for specific products. Custom boxes allow you to specify the ideal box dimensions, interior geometry with custom inserts/separators, and robust materials like corrugated cardboard or molded pulp to properly immobilize and cushion items during transit. This minimizes shipping damages, product returns, and negative customer experiences.
4. Marketing Opportunity
With their large print areas, custom packaging boxes provide valuable real estate for marketing messaging. Beyond basic branding, you can incorporate product details, instructions, QR codes for digital content access, social media logos to encourage sharing, special promotional details, and even augmented reality experiences activated by the packaging design. These elements drive deeper engagement.
5. Environmental Responsibility
Many consumers today prioritize sustainability when choosing brands. With custom packaging, you can explore recyclable, recycled, and even compostable materials produced with eco-friendly processes. Precise box sizing also reduces excess packaging waste compared to generic box sizes. You can use these measures enhance your brand’s environmental credibility.
6. Premium Positioning
There’s an inherent psychology that premium products deserve premium packaging. By investing in custom boxes with high-quality printing, finishing effects like embossing or soft-touch coating, and sturdy construction, you create an upscale unboxing experience that signals superior quality and justifies premium pricing in customers’ minds. This perceived higher value drives brand loyalty.
7. Versatility and Adaptability
While generic packaging limits flexibility, custom packaging box designs enable frequent updates to align with marketing campaigns, seasonal promotions, new product additions, or any changes to your product lineup. You can effortlessly adapt dimensions, designs, and inserts while maintaining consistent premium branding across your entire range.
How to Make Custom Boxes in 3 Easy Steps
Now that you realize the enormous marketing benefits that can be derived from investing in custom boxes, you’re likely wondering where to start. Designing your packaging solution is easy and fun.
1. Select a Box Style
To begin, you’ll want to assess your needs and determine which custom box choice will best align with your products, shipping methods and marketing goals. Does your operation almost exclusively use USPS for delivery? Then you’ll want to design a custom mailer box. Are you planning to multiply your shipping output? Crafting a custom shipping box is likely your best bet. Hoping to gain recognition as a unique product offering in a crowded field? A specialty product box can achieve that for you quickly and confidently.
2. Pick a Size
The next step of the process will be determining the sizes you require for your packaging box. Make sure the sizes you pick coincide closely with the products inside; a pair of earrings arriving in a large shipping box will make your brand look funny and will make consumers think you don’t care about the presentation or how much they pay for shipping costs. If your brand ships different-sized products, make sure you order custom boxes that will work for all of them.
3. Custom Design Your Box
How do you put a logo on a box? If you’re working with a custom box solution expert like Print Bind Ship, you’ll able to do it with ease. Whether you have an existing template or your own logo or you’re starting from scratch, a custom box design expert will be able to translate your ideas into a great-looking package.
How Much Does it Cost to Make a Custom Packaging Box?
Probably less than you think. Many variables factor into the overall cost: size, shape, material, quantity, and how much branding you want to include. It’s important to do your homework. Providers like Print Bind Ship offer high-quality products and design services for a reasonable cost and will closely work with you to ensure you get the best ROI. Get in touch for a free quote for your project!
A custom product box may be just the thing you need to upgrade your brand and connect with customers in a new way!
FAQ
Custom boxes and packaging solutions refer to the tailored packaging options that are designed and created to meet specific requirements of businesses or individuals. They provide unique and personalized branding opportunities, ensuring that your products stand out in the market.
Custom boxes and packaging offer several advantages for your business. Firstly, they help you create a strong brand identity by allowing you to incorporate your logo, colors, and other branding elements. Secondly, they provide better protection for your products during transit, reducing the risks of damage. Lastly, they enhance the overall consumer experience, leaving a lasting impression on your customers.
Yes, you can add your own design, logo, and branding to boxes to give them a personalized touch. By creating a product box design that truly reflects your brand, you’ll create a memorable experience for your customers.
There are several materials to choose from for custom boxes and mailers, including cardboard, rigid board, corrugated board, and plastic. If you’re unsure which material is right for your packaging needs, get in touch with Print Bind Ship for expert advice.
Absolutely! Custom boxes can be made in any size and shape to fit your specific retail packaging needs. Print Bind Ship can help you determine the ideal box size for your products.